Summary: What to do when we find that we have strayed from God.

I remember one night I was returning to college, one of the best schools in the country, The Texas A&M University. What, sermon introductions should get your attention right?

•I was returning to school and it was late. I was driving alone and I had the music playing, but I began to get sleepy.

•I’m much better now, incase my mother hears this sermon, but at that time I thought to myself, “I can make it.”

•So I continued down the highway, securely gripping the steering wheel, but my eyes started to close. I realized what was happening and I shook it off, still thinking to myself that I could make it.

•I continued down the highway and was able to stay awake, but once again my eyes started closing.

Well, determined to make it back to school so that I could get in the bed, I continued driving and I dosed off once again, but this time I was awakened by the loud and bumpy shoulder of the road and realized that I was only inches from going over the elevated road.

•Obviously terrified, I realized that I was off track, and I needed to get back, on the road. You see the danger of me being off track is that it could have led to serious injury or even death.

•Needless to say, the near death experience made me determined to stay WIDE awake until I reached my destination.

Wouldn’t you agree with me that life is a journey? Life is a journey and it’s seen as a road we travel. The roads we travel may be narrow and some may be wide, but the danger is we’re all susceptible to getting off track, and the reality is we do get off track.

•To be off track means that there is a destination you’re headed toward on the road ahead, and if you get off of the road that leads to that destination, then you’re considered off track.

•When you’re off track it hinders you from reaching that destination, and if you remain off track, chances are you won’t reach your destination.

You see if I had not been awakened, keyword, by the roughness of the road, then I would have continued off track, leading to great harm or tragedy.

•We all have a destination to reach, and if we’re not on track, it will lead to a tragic end.

•Well, I’m not here to talk to you about being off track from falling asleep behind the wheel of a car, but I would like to take a moment of your time to talk about being off track because of the spiritual condition we find ourselves in at times.

•Whether you like to admit it or not, all of us have been off track, will be off track, and may be off track right now. Does not the Bible say, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”?

So God knows that at times we will get off the road that He has set before us, but we have to realized that we’re off track, and need to get back.

This is the situation that the young boy in our text found himself in, he was off track and needed to get back. But before we get into this parable we need to understand a few things that were going on.